Longmont hotel ordered to be sold to pay $4M judgment after attack

LONGMONT, Colo. — The owners of a Longmont Econo Lodge have been ordered to sell the hotel to help pay a $4 million judgment awarded to two women who were violently attacked there in 2023.

A Weld County jury in May found the hotel responsible for giving a room key to someone who was not authorized to have one, an act that led to the assault. Six months later, the women have not received any of the money awarded, prompting the court to take the unusual step of ordering the sheriff’s office to seize and sell the property.

“We're going after them. There's no doubt about it,” said attorney Matthew Haltzman.

Haltzman represents the two women who were staying at the hotel on the night of Jan. 3, 2023. According to police reports and court records, the women had invited 31-year-old Cody Czichos to their room for pizza. When Czichos began behaving erratically, they asked him to leave.

Haltzman said that Czichos then went to the front desk, gave the women’s names and room number, and was given a key without authorization.

“The front desk gave him a key, and then he used that key to break into my clients' rooms and violently attack them,” Haltzman said.

Czichos stabbed one woman in the face and hand and assaulted the other before fleeing. He is now serving a prison sentence for attempted murder.

Jurors awarded the women $4 million in damages after hearing testimony about what happened and how the hotel handled the situation.

Since that verdict, Haltzman said, the hotel’s ownership group has failed to pay any portion of the judgment. Weld County courts have now directed the sheriff’s office to auction the hotel to the highest bidder on Dec. 11.

“It is very unusual, and it is a complicated and technical legal process,” Haltzman said. “But nonetheless worthwhile to do in the interest of compensating the victims.”

Haltzman said both women see a silver lining in the forced sale.

“This is a hotel that was engaging in an incredible level of negligence that ultimately harmed two very vulnerable people,” he said. “When the hotel is sold to an investment group or an individual, my clients see that as an opportunity for change that betters the community.”

The Dec. 11 auction through the Weld County Sheriff’s Office is open to the public.

See the original article here: https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/longmont-hotel-ordered-sold-pay-judgment-attack/73-24a63365-80b7-466d-a5c8-3bce3f379bf9